Onion hater

Onion Hater

I know everyone hates some foods, so why should I complain about onions? See, within the last few years I’ve been slowly realizing that there’s a conspiracy to make me eat onions, all going back to my mother. She would make food X, and then when I’d ask if there’re onions in it, would say no or somehow dodge it. She had the best intentions, for me to get used to them – but it just never worked as it did for so many other foods. The problem is, she’s still doing it. As a result of this , I wasn’t aware of the cause of my hatred of some foods for most of my life.

Most of my friends start out by saying – I bet I could make you like onions in MY cooking. It’s amazing how many people have said this. After many blind taste tests between identical items cooked with and without onions, they are mostly convinced that I actually cannot enjoy them. Some believe I am just too stubborn – but believe me, I would LOVE to enjoy onions. We live in an onion filled society. They have infected almost every culture – very little food is safe. The pressures of onion society have polarized me into an onion hater.

24 Comments

Prash

Posted December 4, 2014 at 10:05 am

I’ve got a peculiar problem, I just cant stand onions being cooked I hate the smell of them being fried and i absolutely need to shower if cook them as i can feel the apours going onto my skin and hair. I am pretty sure I dont hate onions but it has something to do with some OCD

Just decided to Google – “dislike raw onions” and found this. . I am 55 years old and have had the “gag” reflex to raw onions since I was 2 yo. My daughter just ordered a Tuna Fish sandwich from Jimmy Johns and because it was loaded with raw onions, I threw it away. So I have two questions:

1) What percentage of the US population hates raw onions and if it is > 50%, why do restaurants insist upon putting it on salads, in sandwich’s, etc., assuming that you want it ?. I can only assume that we are in the minority
2) Is there a scientific explanation for the “gag” reflex and is it genetic?

My first memory of onion-gag occurred when I was in pre-school. Lunchtime was casserole, whatever the hell that was, I was thinking. Bit in and could not swallow for the life of me. “This tastes f*ckin horrible”, I was thinking as a 3 year old. The gag factor set in. It was over. I guess I started being a picky eater after that, not knowing if I’ll gag or not from food. It was the onions, I later discovered.

Grew up not wanting to eat anything that even resembled an onion. Now I can’t stand any form of onions whatsoever. Sometimes I’ve tried to force myself to eat onions to man up, but some sort of chemical imbalance kicks in and signals my brain to make me hurl. The worst, for me, is fried onions. The flavour and smell is overpowering and brings me to a fetal position.

Grocery shopping involves checking out meals that look amazing, only to be crushed when I read “ONIONS” in the ingredients. Yup, that’s a chalk up. Plenty of special “no onions” requests when eating out, only to be horrified that said request fell on deaf ears.

Miss out on all kinds of meals being cooked by family and friends. “Is there onions in it?” I ask. “No”… Sure enough, nice, cooked, onion chunks I see. I actually have an uncanny ability of identifying onions from a messy mix of food. The onion sense is strong in this one. I’ll pick all of them out if I still want to salvage the rest of the meal (which is often impossible). Thinking, “Wow this meal would be amazing if there were no traces of onions in it.” Onion juice toxins would remain.

Always wondered what the commotion over onions was? Sometimes I would feel obligated to try and eat a meal to save face, pounding water and swallowing whole, eyes watering. But then it’s in my system and I feel dirty.

These days everyone knows I’m an onion hater. It’s a great topic of discussion. “I think it’s time you start liking them”, “There’s only a little bit”, “They’re amazing, are you insane!?”, and of course “You won’t even taste them”. They’ll never understand. I explain that it’s physiologically, psychologically and chemically impossible… and that they come from the depths of hell.

hahaha! your last sentence cracked me up. I’m here because i just finished a pasta order from CPK. When i ordered online, i actually had to say yes to onions in it. Every bite i was noticing how perfect the onions made it taste. Then remembered comments of the past of siblings or friends or randoms say “um does that have onions? no onions please” and “yeah i just dont like onions.” It actually made me angry! There have been so many other instances where i just let the comment or dislike of food that I like pass. But onions or mustard or garlic… it’s totally an emotional thing! Real anger. So i went from continuing the next Dr. Who episode to googling “how do people not like onions?” And after reading how it affects you… i feel bad. Not SOOO bad but you know…i had usually taken it as someone who never gave something a chance. Like kids wanting ketchup but eeew not mustard because it isnt sugary and sweet. But this is different. I think i get it now.

I am totally grossed out by raw or nearly raw ONIONS..! They make me gag or want to puke, it’s that bad.. If I find onions in my salad or sandwich or anything else.. I have to pick them all out.. Thoroughly browned onions, though, can taste all right.. Mother once insisted that I had to eat Everything in the salad.. so swallowed the pieces whole, without chewing them..! I hate it when you go to one of the fast food joints and they Automatically slap on raw onions.. unless you say ‘no onions’..! Perhaps it should be the other way around, you Do Not get onions unless someone says, (onions, please)..! [The Soviet Onion also made you cry, once a bitter pill to swallow..] [Why do raw onions seem like Poison to me.. along with green peppers, bell peppers..?!! ]

i dont eat onion sice child but i eat raw onion but can’t eat those fried in oil onions so it makes me onion hater i can’t smell it …….eather so that’s i’m one more onion hater if i eat fried onion i’ll surely vomit it . . . .

I’ve always had an auto-gag reflex to onions. Once when I was 12 or 13 my family and I went to IHOP and I ordered French Toast. Guess what was in the french toast? ONIONS. My mom didn’t believe me until I made her taste it and sure enough…onions. I will never go to Ihop again.

For me i can cut smell and be around ONION however i hate the taste and texture and i also find it hard to buy or eat out constantly asking if it has onion or not total hasle.
What food discrimnation as everyone including myself parents and society keep pushing onion as a great food im sorry but every thing it touches gets ruined from its over bearing foul taste.
Also they are a cheap filler in most bakery and takeway foods and when youve finally picked all the onion out you have a piece of bacon a dot of egg and pastry ???? what a rip off.
there has gotta be something that can be done about this today i pulled what looked like a whole onion out of a bacon and egg pie (small).
Not good but how can this problem be fixed……..

I really can’t stand onions and haven’t liked them as far back as I can remember. They are in most meals which means I haven’t been out to a restaurant in years. I had some chips in a care once but they had used the same fat to fry my chips as the did to cook onion rings. I was violently sick for about half hour. People try to hide it in my food to try and fool me into eating it. It never works. I have to prepare all of my own food for fear of people trying to persuade me to like onions. Yuck!!

Hate is a strong word but not near strong enough for how I feel about onions. I remember walking through the kitchen as a young child and throwing up because my grandmother was cutting up onions for meatloaf. That was my first memory of onions. Later my Dad told me, when I was old enough to go to the hamburger joint with my friends that I would have to order my burger without onions, like that would be embarassing. My sister-in-law was trying to talk me into liking onions. I was in my forties. So I compared eating onions to sex. Most people have a comfort zone, certain things they feel comforable doing in bed. Maybe they don’t like oral sex, should a man sneek his penis into her mouth. Maybe a women doesn’t like anal sex, should a man trick her into rolling over and then penetrate her anus like she will not even notice. Everbody has likes and dislikes, as long as these aren’t harming our world or its inhabitants, shouldn’t that be alright. NO ONIONS PLEASE!!!

I don’t mind the taste of green onions, but white onions I despise. I hate the texture especially and if I bite into a crunchy one, it makes me gag. Don’t try to lie to me and tell me you didn’t put onions in your dish. I will find them, and when I do, I will either pick each one out or refuse to eat it altogether.

I am the same way. I totally gag if I bite into one. It sucks!! I dissect all food (if I did not make it). I swear, one onion can ruin an entire meal for me. I ALWAYS check the bottom of McDonalds cheeseburgers… because, alas,,, I ALWAYS find one.

sooo true…. my mother use to try and trick me time in and time out…… my hatred for onions made it so dinning at a friends house or going for dinner was always a stressful and unpleasant situation…. as i got a bit older it because easier to dine out because with Chinese and other ethnic foods you can often specify “no onions” how ever even there you find them throwing onions in by “mistake” and you gagging on your food only to send it back….

i find fast food places such as McDonalds even better….. you ask for no onions on your burger only to find them strategically place one or two random onions along on side of the burger or on the bun….

not to mention looking over at these pre-made frozen items in the grocery store thinking…. mmm that looks good….. only to some how forget to check the ingredients and take one chomp (or often one sniff) and push the dish aside :/

People have been telling me that i am just finicky about onions all my life. No! They are repulsive to me! They taste and smell badly. Once i was given a big plate of scrambled eggs for breakfast, and the first bite was full of long strips of onions…..i barfed like a two dollar prom queen loaded on sloe gin and 7 up. Some people huh?

I agree! I know there are lots of little white lies told in childhood, and lots of children are fussy, but I really hate onions. I don’t like the taste, the smell or the texture. I really struggled to get the point across about just how much I didn’t like them – I got shouted at, lied to and force fed them, and i suspect a portion of my dislike for the foul tasting vileness is psychological. I really tried to get to like them, or at least to not despise them, but have failed. Why is it so hard for people to understand. If they want to put onion in my food, that’s fine, but I will either pick it all out or leave the food if the taste has permeated too much. I’ve even swallowed chunks of the stuff as tableets, until that got too obvious. I’m regarded as fussy by some people, but it really is the only food I don’t like, and I would ignore the taste if it were at all possible.
Some recurring classics are: “you won’t even taste it” (well, why use it then?),
“I’m sure you’ll like it in MY food” (please just accept it – don’t try to change me), and trying to sneak it past me (nice knowing you, goodbye)

I loved your article. Did you really try to get adapted to onion?
Is it the smell of onion (i.e. sulphunic acid) or taste which causes problem? If it is smell, then you could most probably use substitute of onion.

I am trying to find a substance/chemical/spray etc. which can make one used to onion smell in food as taste is not an issue with me but odour of onion is.